


Coda

by fabricdragon



Series: The Clown and the King [5]
Category: Watchmen - All Media Types
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Music, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Revelations, after the evets of the movie or comic, lnguage of flowers, references to prior story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-02
Updated: 2017-03-02
Packaged: 2018-09-27 19:39:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10043051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fabricdragon/pseuds/fabricdragon
Summary: Adrian remembers Eddie Blake





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bluemary](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluemary/gifts).



Adrian sat at the piano with a drink.  He owed it to Eddie to have a drink for him, after all: he hadn’t had time after he’d killed him.

“Here’s to the man who opened my eyes,” he held up his glass, “you damned magnificent and utter bastard.” He threw back a good mouthful and coughed. “I draw the line at smoking a cigar for you, Eddie, although I’m sure you would have appreciated it.”

He started idly playing, wandering through the classics, and into jazz. “I never did know much about your taste in music, but you had a wide variety in your apartment when I broke in.  Were they gifts? Did you like them all? The things I never thought to ask….”

“Isn’t it rich… aren’t we a pair…” Adrian played that for a little while, and then shifted to  something more classical. Eventually he stopped and walked over to the window.

“You were a sacrifice to the new age, Eddie… I wonder if you would have approved? In any event, I couldn’t let you be one of the uncounted millions, Eddie.  You couldn’t die anonymously and be ashes in some unmarked grave.  I couldn’t stand for it.”

He sat for a long time, finishing his drink, staring into nothing.

“You wouldn’t be happy in the new world, anyway, Eddie.  You would have been so out of place.”

*

Nearly a month after.  He’d been so busy: there was so much to build, so much to do…

His secretary came in with a package, and a florist delivery brought a bouquet of flowers– a really odd bouquet of flowers.

“Sir?  This came for you, but it’s very odd, and it came to your priority box.”

“Scanned?”

“Yes, Sir: nothing toxic except for the normal toxicity of some of the plants; no explosives.” She hesitated, “But the box is locked.”

He waved at them to put it down.  He walked up to the bouquet, and took the card… and froze.

“It’s all a joke. Eddie.”

It wasn’t Eddie’s handwriting.  He looked at the delivery person. “Paid in advance?”

“Ordered online, Sir.” He nodded and left.

Hemlock? Rosemary? Forget me nots? Birds of paradise, and daisies? He thought…   Daisies were joy and laughter weren’t they? Laughter, humor, remember me, don’t forget me… you’ll be the death of me.

Adrian stared stunned at the bouquet.

After a long while he remembered the package. It was a custom made wooden box laser etched with an image of a comedy and tragedy mask.  _The same as my brand_. It had a combination lock built into it.  He tried three combinations before he stopped and looked at the number of digits. Typed in 5,2,8,4,4 –LAUGH– from the phone dial, and it opened.

There was a folded piece of paper, and a disk…

 

“Adrian,

I should have destroyed this, should have made you wonder and try to figure it out, but a joke without a punchline is just unsatisfying. Disk three has been in safekeeping with a friend, who would have mailed this when he finally got word of my death, plus a bit.  He also got left orders to get you a bouquet, if he could: I left him a list.

I wonder if you killed me, or if I managed to die some other way. I always figured you would be the death of me, so I figured it was you.

If you’re expecting philosophy, I will have to disappoint you.

Eddie Blake”

 

Disk three was indeed lying in the box.

Adrian shook his head. “Always had to have the last laugh, didn’t you Eddie?”

~

“ICE? You did it with hot oil and ICE?”

~

Adrian woke up that night from a memory of Eddie being cruel, and Eddie being kind, and somehow he knew, just knew, that Eddie was aware of the fact that Adrian loved him long before Adrian admitted it.

And he threw his pillow at the window, and he let himself cry for a while.

And then he laughed.

It was a hell of a joke.

 

**Author's Note:**

> in canon Adrian killed Eddie, rather than let him tell anyone what Adrian was up to.  
> in my fan fiction, he had another reason as well (stated here)
> 
> the murder of Eddie Blake started off the entire plot-line of the story in Watchmen.


End file.
